Welcome to PROVENCE TODAY, a blog about life and politics in France.
In our search for the ideal place to retire, my husband and I settled in Aix-en-Provence in 1998 and have never stopped learning about this fascinating country that has become our permanent home. While this blog deals with the socio-political aspects of France, my book "Taking Root in Provence" focuses on the pleasures and paradoxes of daily life in sunny Provence.

Sunday, June 15, 2014

D-DAY CELEBRATIONS IN NORMANDY, STRIKES, BRIDGE COLLAPSES

D-DAY CELEBRATIONS IN NORMANDY

On June 6th, France commemorated the landing of allied troops
on Normandy beaches that took place exactly 70 years earlier. In extremely
difficult conditions, and at the cost of thousands of young lives, Operation Overlord
on June 6, 1944 succeeded in breaching the German stronghold on the coast and
opening the way for Europe's liberation from almost five years of Nazi
occupation.

British veterans on Sword Beach

All day long, French television showed official ceremonies
in various cities, at American and British cemeteries, and at Sword Beach in Ouistreham where a moving
2-hour commemoration was held in the presence of 19 heads of state and a number
of World War II veterans, who heard President Hollande pay tribute to the
fallen soldiers and thank "those soldiers who are here today for their
courage and sacrifice so that we may be free". Giant screens showed scenes
from the terrible battles on these very beaches, and actors, dancers and
children enacted the suffering of the people as their towns and villages were
bombed, and their jubilation as they were liberated. As the red-white-and-blue
vapor streaks from the Patrouille de
France faded overhead, the official cars began taking their illustrious
passengers back to Paris where they would meet again for the state dinner
hosted that evening by President Hollande for Queen Elizabeth II and 240
guests.

President Hollande with heads of state in Normandy

It was a busy and potentially risky day for François
Hollande who had invited presidents Putin and Obama who were not on speaking
terms, as well as president-elect Poroshenko of Ukraine who had yet to be
recognized by Putin − all three to be kept from crossing each other. With Queen
Elizabeth II as guest of honor, three other reigning monarchs (Denmark, Holland
and Belgium), and numerous heads of state all converging on Normandy, the
protocol, security and logistical challenges were daunting. The extremely tight
schedule was only slightly compromised when following the official D-Day lunch
at Bénouville Obama and Putin were seen talking to each other and nobody wanted
to break them up.

Merkel diplomacy

[A day earlier in Paris, political tension had required that
Hollande have dinner twice to keep Obama and Putin apart: a 7PM dinner with
Obama in a Paris restaurant, and a 9PM supper with Putin at the Elysée Palace.]
But during the ceremonies at Sword Beach that afternoon, a freewheeling Angela
Merkel managed to talk to Putin and Poroshenko together. The ice was melting
all over the place.

President Hollande is to be commended for his initiative to
invite political enemies and facilitate their contact on his territory. It was
a delicate exercise and a diplomatic success that should lift him a notch in
the polls where he has scored very poorly this year.

STRIKES

He hardly had time, however, to savor his success when
within days two major strikes were called in response to planned reforms. French
railroad workers went on strike to protest against
the Railroad Reform proposal as currently written − which contains the joining of
the two rail companies SNCF (transportation) and SFF (rails and equipment) − and
for the safeguarding of their
privileges (lifetime jobs, early retirement) in the context of the competitive European
railroad network demanded by the European Commission by 2022. The strike started
on June 10 and continues to this day, greatly inconveniencing the three million
daily commuters in the Paris area as well as travelers nationwide. Only two of
five unions are supporting the strike, which is surely one reason why President
Hollande has not blinked so far. The length of the strike with its attendant
risk of growing resentment against the strikers may do the trick without
government interference.

A recent incident underscored the necessity for bringing the
two rail companies under one umbrella when more than 300 new-generation
passenger trains ordered by SNCF turned out to be too wide for many French
railroad stations which had to have their platforms reduced by a few inches to
allow the new trains to enter. A costly and embarrassing lack of communication
between the two entities.

The second strike was called by the Intermittents du Spectacle (actors and technicians in the
entertainment business who do not work full-time but are paid year-round). Once
an intermittent has done three-and-a-half
months of paid work, the government will pay him the rest of the year through
subsidies and unemployment insurance. This special statute, not extended to
other unemployed people, is now endangered by the MEDEF (union of French employers)
who want this preferential treatment changed and brought in line with other
unemployment rules. The intermittents
responded with threats to close down all the summer festivals.

Defenders claim that Culture is France's best ambassador and
not a piece of merchandise, and that its cinéma
d'auteur or its well-known summer festivals would not exist without these temporary workers.

Opponents respond that at an annual cost to the government
of €1.1 billion this exception française is
too costly and that it is not Culture that is at issue but the manner of
financing it. They point out that between the early 1990s and today the number
of intermittents in France has
increased five-fold, which they consider proof of the irresistible
attractiveness of a guaranteed income after only three-and-a-half months of
work for a growing group of artists and technicians.

Since the first threats were voiced, several festival
directors have come forward to forcefully defend the intermittents which they see as a rich and varied talent pool that
is available on call and absolutely essential to the proper functioning of the
performing arts, including the summer festivals. Ever since the MEDEF proposal
was submitted in March for expected final approval in June, the intermittents have asked to be heard on
the issue by the decision makers, without success. So on June 10th they closed down the Printemps des Comédiens festival
in Montpellier and threatened to do the same elsewhere. Newly appointed Labor Minister
François Rebsamen does not support their claims but Culture Minister Aurélie
Filippetti is strongly in favor of maintaining the protected status of the intermittents and reminds the various
social partners of their responsibility to live up to an agreement they signed. Prime
Minister Manuel Valls then appointed an independent mediator, Socialist deputy
Jean-Patrick Gille, who is to submit his report and concrete proposals within
two weeks.

In this climate of strikes and demands I cannot suppress a
thought of the sacrifices it took to liberate this country so it could rebuild
a just and fair society which today offers a free national health system, free
public education, more paid holidays than most (35 days/year), 16 weeks of paid
maternity leave (increased to 26 weeks for a third child), and numerous
subsidies in the form of family allowances (paid to rich and poor alike based
on number of children), rent subsidies and school supplies (income related) -
to the extent that 47 percent of the French population receives financial aid
at a cost to the government of €66.9 billion last year. All these benefits were
built up during the Trente Glorieuses,
the 30 years of reconstruction and full employment following World War II that
led to the consumer society and made France rich.

In times of crisis, when reforms and cutbacks are a
necessity rather than a choice, when globalization calls for more
competitiveness, when everybody stands to lose something on some level, the
French more than most will look to their government to solve the problem and
make their losses whole. Their acquired rights have become entitlements to be
defended come what may. In these selfish times when "the greater
good" is rarely considered, the fight to défendre son bifteck (defend one's steak) has become a reflex.

And yet, restaurants are full, people are well dressed,
opera and theater tickets sell out, and signs of a "crisis" are hard
to see. Can things really be that bad?

One look at the suffering in neighboring Spain (with overall
unemployment at 26.7% and youth unemployment at 57.7% in November 2013,
bypassing Greece) makes the French look positively spoiled. Even if the
government is partly to blame and if a negative outlook is part of the French
character, a look beyond their own borders might make the French feel better about
their own lot.

A touch of that grounded-ness of Northern Europeans,
or the can-do, roll-up-your-sleeves, attitude of Americans would be nice. As
globalization spreads, perhaps some of these "foreign" attributes
will begin to appear in France. But I won't hold my breath.

BRIDGE (PANEL) COLLAPSES

Pont des Arts, before

The recent headline BRIDGE COLLAPSES in a Parisian newspaper
did not deserve its panicky large font. No one died and the bridge is still
standing, but a panel of the famous Pont
des Arts in Paris, laden with "love" padlocks, had simply collapsed
under their weight. Lovers will no longer be able to put padlocks on the bridge
and are encouraged to use ribbons instead, but no decision has been taken yet
with respect to the remaining locks.

About Me

About us, rather: Anne-Marie has worked as a translator, teacher, journalist, sportswriter (covering Formula 1 races), and director of corporate communications. She followed her husband Oscar into early retirement in 1998.
Oscar made his career in international development banking and since moving to Provence has become an expert on Provençal cooking.
Anne-Marie has written two books: Ten Years in Provence (2008 - out of print) and Taking Root in Provence (2011 - Distinction Press, Vermont).